All is Ashes
by Ama E. Cinoskham
Summary: After all he has been through, how can a simple accident take Lief's life?
1. Breakfast Mirrors and Dreams

**Disclaimer- **(I am only doing this once) I do NOT own Deltora Quest. If I did, would I write fanfiction for it?? I think not.

**A/N-** skulblaka222 (who is my good friend if you haven't figured it out yet) said I 'needed to come out of my shell' so, she dared me to post this!! Agh, scary. Anyway...

This is the only multi-chaptered Deltora fanfiction I have ever written that has a plot and makes some sort of sense. And even if it is a totally pointless and rather melodramatic, fluffy fic, I loved writing it.

This is not an action/adventure fic, so don't hang out for any major fights or anything. No Shadow Lord at all! Shocking. This is mainly an emotional kind of fic, jumping between the past and present a lot. In later chapters there will be some romance. Also, I am incredibly mean to Lief in this, as in he is injured very… well… permanently.

Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome, but no flames please. I have been working on the fanfic for over a year. It has grown from a few random excerpts that made no sense to an actual story, and it is my baby.

**ALL IS ASHES**

**By Ama E. Cinoskham**

**Chapter 1- Breakfast/Mirrors and Dreams**

_January 6_

The day started normally enough. Lief woke, dressed, and studied himself worriedly in the mirror for a few minutes. Then he began to short walk up to the palace, hands in pockets, head low, dawdling and scuffing his feet. The sun was only just appearing on the horizon, and Lief lifted his head to watch it come up, sighing. Another day was beginning, and he felt just as tired as he had when the last one had ended.

Far too soon, he had reached the palace. The guards at the door greeted him as he climbed the stairs, and he gave half-hearted replies to their questions. Besides them, there was no one yet at the palace. The entrance hall was deserted. Glad to avoid any more unnecessary conversation, Lief made his way towards the kitchens, and pulled open the door.

Besides a few lone cooks lighting the gas ovens, and Kira the dog, lying on a faded rug, it too was empty. Lief sidled around the edge of the room, grabbing some toast and a glass of water on the way, and made his way through a door to the side, the door that led into the small dining area where he and his friends ate all their meals.

There was only one person at the big wooden table that morning, sipping at a glass of orange juice. "Lief!"

He smiled at the familiar bearded face. "Hello, Barda,"

Barda frowned. "Did you sleep well?" he asked abruptly.

"Yes," Lief lied quickly. He tried to ignore Barda's scrutinising eyes on his face. "I'm _fine_," he said, emphasizing the last word. He fell into a chair. "Is Jazz still asleep?"

Barda nodded.

Lief's face fell even further. He could not hide that he was disappointed. But, he supposed, the crack of dawn was frankly a ridiculous time to be awake. He certainly felt so, right at the moment. But he had so wanted to see her. When he saw her, and the reassuring sight of the ring on her finger, he always felt better.

Barda was quiet. Lief avoided his eyes, picking at some healing scabs on his palms. But he knew the older man was watching him in concern. And he knew why. He had seen the evidence in the mirror that morning- the dark rims under his eyes, and pale, sunken cheeks. It was not his fault he could not get any sleep at the moment, though. It was these dreams he had been having so often recently. They were relentless. Since Dragon Night he had suffered from them, and in this last week they had woken him up to ten times a night.

It was hard for him to remember what the dreams had been _about_ exactly. All he knew was that they frightened and disturbed him like nothing else. They made him wake up screaming.

Shaking away unpleasant thoughts, Lief pushed away his barely eaten meal "Let's go," he muttered. "I need to talk to you about that guard roster,"

Barda nodded, and the two men left the kitchens. The entrance hall was gradually filling up with people now, though it was not nearly as busy as it would become later that day.

For as the day progressed, more and more would enter the huge palace doors. More and more would descend the stairs from their bedchambers on the second floor. The palace would become busier and busier.

In other words, it would become the perfect place for a little chaos.

By midday, Lief and Barda had finally sorted out a long stretch of problems with rosters and duties. Relieved and satisfied, they joined the now large crowd in the entrance hall.

The hall was large- wide and long, stretching along until it reached the congested grand staircase. Portraits and sculptures lined the gaps between the doors and archways, clusters of people surrounding each. Up above, even more people could be seen, on the railed balconies of the floor above, their voices echoing and mingling with those below. And, hovering above everything, high above the staircase, was the chandelier- a metal and glass structure that was occasionally lowered and filled with lighted candles.

People parted to let Lief and Barda through, but Lief barely noticed them. He was looking forward to lunch, and finally seeing Jasmine…

It was because of these thoughts that, for a while, he did not even notice anything was wrong.

_Creak…_

In the clamour of the crowd, the sound had been mainly unnoticed. But still some sharp-eared women on the stairs heard it, and fell silent.

_Creak…_

This time, more heard the noise. The crowd's own noise lessened as neighbours nudged each other, ears strained to distinguish the source of the sound. Barda caught Lief's arm, and the boy stopped, and listened.

_Creak…_

Now the sound was so loud, it could not be ignored. The crowd was hushed. No one moved.

_Creeeeak…_

Lief frowned. "What _is_ that?" he asked to no one in particular.

"The chandelier!" came a sudden scream.

Startled, Lief looked up. The massive structure was swaying dangerously…and then it was…it was….falling!

"Run!" Barda roared.

And then, suddenly, there was mass pandemonium, people shrieking, running away from under the collapsing chandelier. Pushing, shoving, trying to escape…

The chandelier was getting ever nearer to the ground…it was far too close…

"GET DOWN!" someone screamed.

It hit the ground with a massive crash, folding into itself, the glass shattering and flying in all directions. The crowd shrieked and fell to the ground, covering their heads. The sounds of falling glass filled the air.

And then, there was silence.

Lief raised his head cautiously.

"Are you okay?" asked Barda anxiously, getting up beside him.

"Yes," Lief said. He looked down at his hands and saw that the scabs on his palms had been knocked off when he had fallen. The newly opened wounds were bleeding slightly. He swore under his breath, turning around. "But-" his sentence broke off. He stared.

The stairs and entrance hall were covered in little pieces of glass, covering the people who lay, shaking and shocked, on the ground. Above, people were shouting and calling from the top of the stairs and the balconies. More were coming, after hearing the commotion. All were staring at the twisted wreckage of the chandelier, lying on the stairs, the rope that had once held it up coiled beside it like a long, dead snake.

Lief felt himself pale as he looked at that rope. "It's not broken," he whispered. "It must have been untied…" he stood up shakily, following the path the rope had once taken with his eyes, from the roof, through the pulleys, and across the roof in a tight line, to the place where it had once been firmly tied. Up on the balconies, tucked away in the corner.

There was someone there. He was in guard uniform.

Lief nudged Barda, and pointed silently. The big man looked up, and his eyes narrowed. The boy saw them, started, then turned and ran.

"Thorn," Barda growled.


	2. Lunch Argument

**A/N- **So…yeah. Enjoy! Sorry it took me a while to put up, I planned to put it up AGES ago, but then my computer died. Completely carked it. Plus I've been studying for my first ever exams!!! screams! … Which reminds me, best of luck to everyone doing exams!

Now, please welcome- Thorn! wild applause as authoress welcomes Thorn

Don't worry about what Sharn and Lief are arguing about- it's not important. When I sent this to my proof readers they were demanding to know what it was because they thought it must have contained a massive plot clue or something. It's not. Trust me. I don't even know what they are arguing about. I just bundled together a whole heap of phrases usually used when teenagers clash with their parents.

**Chapter 2- Lunch/Argument**

Barda frowned down at the young trainee guard before him, and the guard frowned back at him. His chin was stuck out stubbornly and he faced Barda with no fear.

"I did not do anything wrong, sir," the boy said tersely. "So I do not see why I should be punished. It was that Vasti that did it. He framed me!"

Barda sighed. There was an influx of trainees at the moment, from all over Deltora, as so many had been killed by the Toran Plague. So many young guards, servants, cleaners, cooks…mistakes were many, and dealed with patiently. But this had been no mistake.

"You were lucky no one was killed!" he snapped. "And even if you did not destroy the chandelier- why were you not at your training?"

"Dunn sent me away," the boy mumbled sullenly. "He said I was too 'disruptive'," His dark eyes rolled. Barda felt like strangling him.

Now that he thought of it, Thorn actually reminded him a lot of-

The door opened.

"Lief!" Barda started. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I might come and see who was responsible for that rather spectacular end to what was otherwise a dull morning," he glanced at Thorn. "This is he, I presume?"

"This is Thorn," Barda growled. "He does not seem to think it was his fault,"

"You and Lief shouldn't be so accusing!" Thorn scowled.

Barda's frown deepened. Thorn had just addressed Lief by his first name only. Barda was set in traditions, and for someone who was not on familiar terms with him should call him a formal title, such as 'your majesty', 'sir', or even just King Lief. Not to do so was the height of rudeness.

But Lief didn't say anything about it. "I was not accusing you of anything, Thorn. But if you did cause the chandelier to fall, you can tell us without fear. I will not punish you," he smiled pleasantly. "To tell you the truth, I always hated that thing, and am rather glad that it's gone,"

But Thorn was sticking by his story. "It was Vasti," he repeated stubbornly, folding his arms.

"Vasti?" Lief frowned. "I know him. He bullied me, if I remember correctly," his face darkened. "So- he's a palace guard now? Sworn to protect me," he laughed shortly. "Ah- the irony," Lief looked up at Thorn and hesitated before saying, "You can go,"

The boy walked away, his head held high.

Barda raised an eyebrow at Lief, but the king just shrugged. "The kid got lucky. I can seriously not be bothered playing detective today, Barda. Anyway, it was an accident. No one was hurt. If that's the worst thing that happens in Del today, we should consider ourselves lucky,"

Lunch was a strange affair.

For one thing, it happened at 3:30, due to the distraction in the entrance hall. And, for another, Lief and Sharn were arguing rather loudly. This wasn't too unusual, though. Like any teenager and their mother, Lief and Sharn seemed to argue about almost everything. Jasmine and Barda had no idea what the disagreement was about today, but Lief and Sharn were currently at opposite ends of the table, very near to yelling.

"You are being stupid Lief!" Sharn was saying. "What do you think will come of this?_"_

"Nothing!" Lief snapped back. "Why don't you trust me with anything?"

Jasmine drew her attention away from the two pairs of sparking blue-grey eyes and looked over to Barda. "So- when's Lindal coming?"

Barda looked up sharply, but then relaxed and smiled. "Well-"

"-stupidest thing I have ever heard!" Lief yelled behind them. "What-?_"_

"She's coming in two weeks, last time I heard. Business, of course,"

"Of course," Jasmine smiled sweetly. "Business. But I will be glad to see her-"

"But _Mother_-_"_

"Won't you?"

"Of course. You know we are good-" he paused.

"I will not allow you to- !"

"Friends," Barda finished sheepishly.

"Sure you are," Jasmine said shortly. She turned. "Lief, you done arguing with your mother yet?"

Lief glared at her, and nodded. He and Sharn were wearing matching furious expressions. They looked so similar that Jasmine had to muster all her power not to laugh.

She stood up to leave and Lief jumped up too, following her.

"What was that all about?" she asked him with a grin as they moved away.

Lief grunted. "Don't ask. I'm just having a really bad day,"

**A/N- **I apologise for my pitiful attempt at foreshadowing and suspense. I know I suck at it. No need to review and tell me so. Thorn shall return! But for now, let us move on…


	3. Dinner Countdown

**A/N- **Are we beginning to see a pattern with chapter titles?

YAY! Action! We have finally reached the accident! How brilliant- for us, I mean. Not for Lief. Obviously.

**Chapter 3- Dinner/ Countdown**

Barda was just finishing dinner when Lief walked in. In a perfect contrast to that morning's entrance, he was smiling and humming as he set down his meal.

"Did you spend some time with Jasmine?" Barda asked, smiling.

"What gave you that impression?" Lief said vaguely, picking up his spoon.

Barda looked at the clock on the wall and grimaced. "Sorry to be leaving so soon, but I arranged a talk with Dunn,"

Lief waved him away, a dreamy look still on his face. And, chuckling to himself, Barda left.

Fate is a strange thing. No one can know what will happen. If Lief had touched the opal to see the future, he would have seen just a ball of fire, and heard an anguished scream. He could not have done anything to prevent what was to happen, no matter how hard he tried. Just as Jasmine could not have known that the dress she was trying on up in her bedchamber she would never wear again. As Barda could not have known the tragic news that would be delivered by a young guard as talked to Dunn. If he had, he would have done anything to stop it. But fate cannot be stopped.

And so it was that, as fate had promised, just as Barda had finished talking to his deputy, and just as Dunn was about to salute and leave, a young guard ran in, white faced. "Sir!" he gasped. "Sir! Quickly! The king- King Lief…is…is…"

Barda frowned. "Well- out with it!" he snapped. "What is it?"

And the guard whispered three words. Just three words.

It is extraordinary what words can do.

-----

The dress was made of green silk, lined with golden thread at the hems. It was the exact shade of her eyes, long sleeved with a neck shaped like a v. At the waist, the dress drew apart in the middle, revealing an embroidery in thin golden thread- of flowers and trees and birds, in swirling patterns. Around her neck she was wearing the gold chain her mother had owned.

Jasmine did a little twirl and smiled at herself in the mirror. It was perfect. The perfect wedding dress.

She felt a thrill of excitement. Just a few more weeks, and she would be married. And, better yet, she would be married to Lief.

There was a sudden, urgent knock at the door.

"Wait a minute," she called, snapping out of her daydream and whirling around, skirts of her dress rustling. "I cannot-"

"Jasmine? Jasmine- it's Barda. You need to come. Now. Please…"

A cold wash of dread swept over her. She didn't know why. It was just the horror and desperation in Barda's voice.

She opened the door.

Barda's eyes swept over her, her dress. His mouth opened very slightly, but no words came out, only a grief-stricken moan.

"What is it, Barda?" she asked. "What-"

"Lief-" he whispered. "Lief…"

Fear made her run. It made her run through the halls and down the stairs. It made her run to the kitchen, and burst through the open door.

The kitchen was full of smoke, the smell of burning skin and hair. Several ovens and tables were scorched. All around, white-faced cooks covered in ash bustled around. A few were crying over blackened bodies.

Then Jasmine saw him, and she knew.

Her knees crumpled. She screamed.

**A/N- ****STOP! **Before I start getting reviews saying something along the lines of HOW COULD YOU KILL LIEF? HOW COULD YOU???? Just read on and wait, please. Find out whether he actually is dead before you start freaking out.

So, in other words, review please! No flames.


	4. Clench

**A/N- **Agh! The melodrama! It's actually paining me! But it doesn't get any better, so live with it.

Thank you to all my reviewers! I love you all!

**Chapter 4- Clench**

Fifteen minutes later, guards were carrying away the last of the dead cook's shrouded bodies. The doctors had moved the other cooks, some of whom were being treated for burns they had suffered while battling the blaze, others who were just distraught and shocked, and needed to be taken away from the sight of the ruined kitchen.

But no one had taken Lief yet. Jasmine and Barda huddled next to his still body, alone and immersed in grief. Jasmine was clinging to Barda desperately, but he could do or say nothing to comfort her. Her anguished howls had quietened, and now she was sobbing, sobbing like her heart was breaking. Filli was wailing on her shoulder.

He was lying, sprawled face-down on the ground, not far from the door. They could still see some of his hair, lying in frazzled clumps, and the Belt of Deltora, gleaming sulkily under a layer of ash, completely undamaged. They could see his right arm- his long, pale fingers, the scabs on his palm which were still healing, the piece of braided leather his father had given him still tied around his wrist. His right leg was almost completely undamaged too. He was wearing new boots he had bought just the week before.

But other than that he was almost unrecognisable- just a mass of blood and burnt, blackened flesh.

Barda's mind was numb. He could think of nothing but the young guard's words, running through his head, again and again.

_He is dead…_

Jasmine let go of Barda, and leant down to Lief's body. Her fingers trembled over him, not daring to touch. She began to murmur softly, even though she knew now he could never again hear her words. Tears were still falling from her eyes, running down her face and landing gently on the ash covered floor.

Barda's heart felt like it was being squeezed by a giant hand. He should not be listening to Jasmine's last moments with Lief. He rose, and moved away.

There he stood, in the middle of the charred and smouldering kitchen, head bowed and fists clenched, while Jasmine sat by Lief, saying her final good-byes.

The final two guards came in, and one quietly picked up a final, smaller black body. Kira the kitchen dog. She had died by her master's side, where she had always been in life.

Barda felt sick. All these deaths. All these needless deaths. And the death of one whose life had only really been just beginning.

Behind him, Jasmine made a small noise, and her murmuring feel silent. Barda turned. "Jasmine?" he whispered. "Are you okay?"

Receiving no answer, he started forward, ready to comfort his friend. But as soon as he reached her, he knew it was not her grief that was distressing her.

"Barda…" Jasmine whispered. Her eyes were wide and staring. She scarcely seemed to be breathing.

Barda followed her gaze, and his heart stopped.

Then he was running to the door, shouting at the two guards, who were still just outside the door. "Get the doctor!"

"But-" one of the guards began softly.

"Get the doctor! Now!" Barda repeated his order. Startled, one of the guards ran off.

Barda turned back, and he and Jasmine watched in amazement as Lief's right hand slowly, painfully, clenched into a fist.

**A/N: **You know the drill! Review! Constructive criticism is welcome, but no flames please!


	5. A Promise

**A/N: **Hello again! There's really not much else to say… so enjoy! As usual, please read and review. Constructive criticism welcome, no flames please.

**Chapter 5: A Promise**

Half an hour after Lief had said farewell to Barda, many things had changed, and many more things were going to be.

Outside of Del, things went on as normal. But the blackbirds, rising to the sky, each with a note clamped firmly in their talons, promised that this would soon not be so.

In Del, however, the change had already occurred.

The entrance hall was now empty, except for a young, curly-haired guard with bandaged hands, who was standing over nameless, covered bodies, praying that eight was enough.

Upstairs, a masked doctor was raising his knife, as Lief lay so still before him, at his mercy.

In the room next door, Jasmine and Barda were standing in the chill silence, waiting.

At the forge, Sharn was dropping a frantically scrawled note with a cry of anguish, as Kree sat on her shoulder, clucking with grief.

On the streets of Del, people were shouting that their king had died.

---

When Lief had been two years old, he had asked his mother what death was.

Sharn had tread carefully around the issue. She knew why Lief was asking-just weeks before one of their neighbours, a small girl called Milly, had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. Milly had been Lief's friend, and for week he had been asking why he could no longer play with her. She was dead, and Lief did not know how it had happened.

"Death is- it's like going to sleep and never waking up," Sharn said gently. "And no matter how hard others try to wake them, they will never wake again. Not ever. Instead, you go up to Heaven, high in the clouds. Your ancestors all live there, and watch over you,"

"Does it hurt?" Lief asked. "Dying?"

Sharn frowned. "No," she said at last. "Though sometimes the moments before you die can be painful, and that is why people choose to die. They do not want the pain anymore. Or maybe they are very old, and feel they have done enough, so they leave,"

"Was Milly in pain?" Lief looked close to tears now. "Was she, Mummy? Is that why she left?"

"I don't know," murmured Sharn. She lifted her little son onto her lap and touched his freckled nose. "But now she is up in Heaven. She is always with us,"

"But we can't see her, or talk to her," Lief mumbled. "And that's not the same,"

"No," Sharn admitted holding Lief close. "It's not,"

After a moment of silence, Lief murmured, "Even if I was in pain. I wouldn't want to go, no matter what," he snuggled in deeper. "I want to stay here. I won't ever leave you. I promise,"

---

Sharn ran as fast as she was able up the palace steps. She was covered in dirt, an uprooted flower still in her hand, trickling dirt in a trail behind her. Just minutes before she had been gardening at the forge. She had stormed there are her and Lief's argument, and decided to garden to calm herself down. Then Kree had swooped down from the sky, and note from Barda in his beak.

She had read only the first line.

_Lief has been in an accident. He is badly hurt…_

Her heart had stopped. She had started to run. All the way through the streets she had seen it on people's faces, she had heard it on their lips.

_He is dead…he is dead…_

Sharn burst through the palace doors and began to stumble towards the steps. Then she froze, and gave a howl of anguish. Shrouded bodies lay on the floor by the kitchen door. One of them was her son…

People were hurrying towards her, but she barely noticed them. It was only when a hand touched her shoulder that a voice managed to break through the tumultuous blur of grief in her mind.

"Sharn!" Barda cried huskily. "Sharn! Lief-"

His name pierced her heart like a spear, tearing it in two. And suddenly into her mind there was all the people she had said good-bye to, far too soon. And there was Lief, promising her: _I will never leave you. I won't leave you all alone. I promise._

The flower fell from her hand and crumpled limply to the ground.

"He's not dead!" Sharn shrieked, beside herself. "He promised he would never leave me!"

"Sharn!" Barda exclaimed. "Sharn-!" he put his arms around her and she struggled against him, beating his chest with her bare hands, like it was all his fault. "He promised me…" she sobbed. "He promised…"

"He's not dead," murmured Barda. "He's not dead, Sharn,"

It took a few minutes for his words to sink in, for Sharn's hysterical sobs to calm, and for her to fall limply into Barda's arms.

"He's not dead," he whispered. "Lief is still alive,"

Sharn, gasping for air and tears rolling down her cheeks, just screwed her eyes shut, amazed.

Lief had kept his promise.


End file.
